Cleanin’ out the sports notebook

- Kyle’s Korner ….

Mingo Central assistant coach/offensive coordinator Joey Fields will be an assistant coach at Martinsburg High School next season. Fields made that announcement via Twitter and Facebook over the weekend.

Fields younger brother Dalton Hatfield, an offensive lineman who will be a junior next season, will be moving with Joey. Dalton started the last two years for the Miners.

Martinsburg is coached by Dave Walker. Fields said Walker graduated from Pineville High School in nearby Wyoming County and is familiar with the Tug Valley area. He played in the Kiwanis Senior Bowl years ago after he graduated from Pineville. Walker first coached at East Hardy before getting the job at Martinsburg High a Class AAA school.

The Bulldogs have been to eight state championships in the past 14 years and won four in a row through 2010 to 2013.

“I’ll coach the quarterbacks up there and be his guy up in the booth,” Joey said.

… A life-sized statue of former Mountaineer basketball great “Hot Rod” Hundley will be unveiled prior to the West Virginia-Oklahoma basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 2:00 p.m.

The statue will set opposite of the Jerry West statue in front of the coliseum.

Hundley, from Charleston, averaged 24.5 points per game during his three-year varsity career at West Virginia University from 1955-57 where he earned consensus All-America honors in 1957.

Hundley led the Mountaineers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances during what was considered the “Golden Era” of WVU basketball.

… Thaddeus Moss, the son of former NFL star Randy Moss, is a 2016 football recruit who committed to NC State on Saturday.

The younger Moss, a 6-foot-4 tight end, chose the Wolfpack over some big offers and a final list of NC State and Texas A & M. At one time he had also mentioned being interested in WVU.

… According to Blue and Gold News, the WVU coaching staff knew they needed some experience in their secondary next season and they have started to take steps to rebuild it. Today saw them take a big step in adding some experience when JUCO DB Toyous Avery committed to WVU.

Avery is a 6’0”, 200 pound safety prospect from Coffeyville Community College and is coming off a 70 tackle and five interception season. Coaches feel he will provide the Mountaineers with some college football experience in the defensive backfield next season. This is an area that the Mountaineers will lose five key contributors from last season.

… Another key commit for the defensive is prospect JoVanni Stewart.

Stewart is a 5’9,” 185 pound defensive back from Katy, Texas. He has been a safety at the high school level but could be used as a cornerback in the Mountaineers 3-3-5 defensive scheme with the additions of Kyzir White and Avery at the safety position.

Stewart is a track star at Katy High and is considered one of the top tacklers on his 5A state championship team.

Stewart has been a target of the Mountaineers coaching staff for quite a while, especially since they have a big need for defensive backs. The early departure of Daryl Worley to the NFL draft and graduation of Karl Joseph opens some spots in the secondary.

(Kyle Lovern is the Editor for the Williamson Daily News. He can be contacted at [email protected] or at 304-235-4242, ext. 2277 or on Twitter @KyleLovern)